How Cuba is fighting Zika

How Zika spreads (and who’s to blame)

The mosquito kills nearly 750,000 people each year. Malaria is the cause for the majority of these deaths, but a Zika outbreak has the Americas scared of this insect. This is how the insect spreads disease to its victims.

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The mosquito kills nearly 750,000 people each year. Malaria is the cause for the majority of these deaths, but a Zika outbreak has the Americas scared of this insect. This is how the insect spreads disease to its victims.

The article reports that as of Aug. 11 Cuba has recorded three people who were infected with Zika by local mosquitoes rather than contracting the illness abroad. Cuba’s first known local case was reported by the World Health Organization in March and involved a 21-year-old resident of Central Havana. The country has recorded about 30 travel-related Zika cases to date.

Among the country’s most effective measures for responding to dengue fever in 1981 was a heavy fine for Cubans found to have mosquitoes breeding around their homes, as well as intensive spraying of pesticides and the creation of a national reporting system for mosquito-borne illnesses, according to the article.